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Mere days after Canadians moaned about not being able to watch all the cool American commercials during the Super Bowl, it was our turn to gloat: As Canucks nationwide tuned into CBC's live coverage of the Winter Olympic opening ceremony in Sochi Friday, our friends in the U.S. could enjoy furniture infomercials, daytime talk shows and Dr. Oz advising ladies on the best way to wax unwanted facial hair.

With NBC once again refusing to air live coverage of the opening ceremony in favour of a tape-delayed primetime broadcast, CBC -- returning to the Olympic broadcast throne after a six-year hiatus -- had the North American exclusive on our first taste of Sochi 2014.

And like the opening ceremony itself, it was a slick if not exactly innovative effort, with the odd small glitch, the occasional bit of head-scratching and more than one convenient time to take a bathroom break.

From the Alice in Wonderland-like CGI opening to the bizarre giant robo-mascots to a Swan Lake-meets-Tron ballet number, Ron MacLean, Peter Mansbridge and Canadian Olympic hero Clara Hughes -- cheat sheets firmly in hand -- walked us through a trippy, sometimes breathtaking and only occasionally yawn-inducing look at Russian history, heavily sanitized for TV audiences. (Stalin? Sorry, never heard him.)

MacLean is a smart, quick guy, and while Mansbridge seemed to nod off occasionally and Clara Hughes vanished without explanation halfway through, they did exactly what's required of opening ceremony TV hosts: be quiet when there's cool stuff happening, and explain what we're looking at if things get abstract.

And, when needed, make smart remarks. "Whenever we heard that song, we were guaranteed a great hockey game," MacLean said during the playing of the Russian national anthem. (Truth!) "Zimbabwe recorded snowfall only once, in the 1960s. It's like Sochi," said Mansbridge. (More truth!)

While they committed no gaffe as cringeworthy as that fifth Olympic ring that refused to open, CBC did make some odd choices. Like going to a trackside interview with Canadian flagbearer Hayley Wickenheiser just ahead of Team USA entering Fisht Stadium, meaning we missed out on any fun facts about 'Murica from M&M. (Wickenheiser also called Clara Hughes "Catriona" -- presumably mistaking her for Catriona Le May Doan, who, like Hughes, was also a Winter Games flagbearer -- but she gets a pass for having a lot on her plate.)

And we probably could have done without MacLean recapping the entire plot of War and Peace during the segment of the ceremony devoted to Russian author Leo Tolstoy's famous novel. But then again, it's not like it was his idea to re-enact War and Peace during an opening ceremony in the first place.

With the primary network broadcast torch passing back to CBC after CTV's stints in Vancouver and London, all eyes will be on the ailing Mothercorp over the next 16 days, measuring whether or not they've still got the Olympic mojo.

If they don't, we can always tune into NBC. Nine hours after the medals have been handed out.